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Craft beers don't usually come in cans, but the High Falls Brewing Co. in Rochester, NY, hopes to increase its customer base with "Cold Pint" 16-ounce aluminum bottles.

High Falls is packaging two of its craft brands — JW Dundee's Honey Brown lager and American Pale Ale — as single-serve products for bars, restaurants, groceries and convenience stores.

The bottles are lined to prevent a metallic taste, and the recyclable aluminum is a thicker gauge than cans, thus offering a sturdier bottle feel. High Falls claims this is the first craft/specialty beer to be offered in aluminum bottles, although Anheuser-Busch has been selling some of its popular brands, including Michelob Light and Bud Light, in aluminum bottles for several months.

"We're looking at this as a way for people to sample the product," High Falls CEO Tom Hubbard told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle newspaper. "These are just more ways for us to gain the momentum of the craft line of products that we are offering."

High Falls also produces Genesee beer and 12 Horse ale, but they will not be available in the aluminum bottles.

On his late, lamented TV series, comedian Drew Carey and his buddies made money on the side by brewing Buzz brand beer in Drew's garage. The secret to its popularity? It combined beer and caffeine.

Now, reality is catching up with art. Anheuser-Busch is preparing to test market a beverage called Natty Up, a caffeinated version of its Budweiser Natural Light beer.

The market: young adults who now plunk down money for various vodkas and such energy drinks as Red Bull. The test markets selected are in Florida, Texas, Missouri and North Carolina. This latest twist isn't particularly new for A-B which already introduced caffeinated malt beverages B-to-the-E (Budweiser to the extreme) and Tilt.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Dowd, longtime food and drink writer and judge, shares insights on news, trends, products, and people in brewing, with an emphasis on a virtual trail of craft breweries, brew pubs, restaurants, and beer- and cider-centric events in New York's "Greater Capital Region," an area with a rather fluid definition -- and sometimes news from elsewhere as well.